Tagged

A- Attached or single: Attached
B- Best Friend: Mike
C-Cake or Pie: Cake with really good icing, or pumpkin pie
D-Day of Choice: Sunday after church, I love just hanging out and being together (and I get a nice nap)
E- Essential Item: scrapbook tools
F- Favorite Color: Don't really have one, but tend to lean toward greens and mauves
G- Gummy Bears or Worms: neither
H- Hometown: St. George Utah
I- Indulgence(s): Little Debbie Fancy Cakes (I could eat a whole box in the car on the way home from the store, that's why I can't buy them too often. I'm sure that is a bunch of points!!)
J- January or July: January if I was in Utah, July when I'm in MA
K-Kids: Chelsea, Brianna, Mason, Cord
L-Life is incomplete without: my family and my faith in Christ
M- Marriage Date: February 15th (just passed 16 years - WOW)
N- Number of Siblings: 2 sisters and 2 brothers (5 kids all together, guess who was the oldest)
O- Oranges or Apples: Oranges (if someone else will peel them for me, or Golden Delicious Apples
P-phobias or Fears: my kids getting lost, my scrapbooks getting burned in a fire, my family NOT being all together forever, and the fact that I totally ruined Chelsea's life!
Q-quote(s): That is "wicked" cool or "at least we are all together"
R- Reason To Smile: When my baby laughs and the kids are getting along
S-Season: Spring (it can't come too soon!!!)
T-Tag Nine: Shari, Brenda, Angela, Sherri, Shelly K., Tammy, Dallas, Michelle, Kim, Suzanne
U-Unknown Fact About Me: I was the first state 4-H ambassador from Washington County
V- Vegetarian or Oppressor of Animal: Do you have to eat vegetables to be a vegetarian? Do french fries count?
W- Worst Habit: Perfectionist, don't know when to say no
X- X-Rays or Ultrasounds: Ultrasounds with the babies, x-rays with my knee probs in my teenage years.
Y- Your Favorite Food: Beef & Chicken Taco from Cafe Rio (which we don't even have here)
Z-Zodiac: Cancer

Can't wait to hear your answers!

Ice Skating

Everyone has things that they would like to do at least once in their lifetime. On my list was "ice skating". On this very wet, rainy saturday we accomplished this goal. Usually I like to just sit on the sidelines, watch Cord, take pictures, and enjoy watching the kids have fun with their dad. Today I decided to actually partake in the action and get out on the ice. We took turns watching cord outside the rink. Chelsea and Mason picked up really fast. Brianna and I took a lot longer to warm up. But by the end of the skating time we could go around with arena only touching the side occasionally. It wasn't quite the olympic routine that I imagine myself doing so nicely in my head, but I was very proud of myself and the kids. Mason was also excited to tell us that he fell "16 times! Sometimes even on purpose". I can't figure that kid out.




While Brianna and I slowly made our way around the rink, Chelsea was doing circles around us. She could go around 4-5 times by the time we made it around once. We should have pushed her over or something to slow her down :) Mason made new friends with almost every lap he did. He was always skating with someone new. A good time was had by all, except Cord who got board watching on the sidelines. Maybe someday we'll do it again.

Ice Skating videos

Can you tell from these 2 videos who picked up on the ice skating really quickly and who took a little more time? We all had fun either way.

Snow videos

Mason dared to go off this jump but the girls didn't want to even try it. His daddy was so proud of his bravery.

Sledding

Even though it snowed all night and throughout the morning, the afternoon warmed up quite nicely. We decided to take the kids sledding on a golf course nearby. We weren't the only ones with this bright idea, but there was plenty of room for everyone. The only downside is that we only have one sled and the stores around here aren't selling them anymore. Next year we'll be more prepared. The kids did have a lot of fun though.

More Snow

We had another big snowstorm last night so what are you going to do??? Mike and Mason made another big snow fort but this time in the front yard and a lot more sturdy. The other one fell down the next day. They also built a large snowman to stand guard next to the fort but it fell down shortly there after.

Cord is getting his first taste of snow. It ws fun to watch him walk around and touch the cold fluffy stuff. It didn't take long for him to take a taste. It does look like his big sister is setting the example though.

Mason and Brianna found a comfortable spot in a large snowbank across the street.

The Boys

For our blue and gold cub scout banquet, the scouts preformed a magic show. Mason had a trick where he made cards magically rise out of the box. He practiced a lot and did a fabulous job.
I just think this is cute. Cord is really starting to ride his horse around that he got for his first birthday. Has anyone figured out how to make the babies stop growing?

Farewell to Elder Fernandez

We have loved having the Elders in our home often for meals or missionary meetings but we tend to get attached easily. Elder Fernandez (standing next to Mike) got here just before I did. He was one elder that got to share in our interesting dinner before our stuff got here. He is from Texas and only has about 2 months left on his mission. He got transferred on thursday and we were all very sad. Luckily we get to spend more time with Elder Amicone (from Sandy) and his new companion from SLC. Small world huh?

Mason's cartoon creations

When the kids were out of school for a week for winter break, Mason & Brianna took a "Learn to Cartoon" class at the longmeadow community center. I asked the kids to pick a couple of their favorite drawings to share for the blog. It was super hard for Mason to narrow it down to a couple but we did get it down to 4. He really enjoys drawing and I love all the details he puts into his drawings. I honestly don't know what's going on inside that mind of his sometimes.
This is his made up cereal "robo O's. It includes a free toy that has managed to break out of the box.


This one was my favorite. They were told to draw a picture of a robot and some kind of a vending machine. A lot of his pictures have a very long story behind them. He is going to be an inventor when he grows up. Hopefully he'll be rich and be able to support us since we'll probably still be paying off our student loans when he gets out of college.

Brianna's Cartoons

These are Brianna's 4 favorite creations that she made in cartoon camp. She is also a very talented artist and likes to put a lot of thought and details in her drawings. When I can't find her, she is up in her room drawing something. She really likes to make up her own fashion designs. Maybe one day she'll be a famous designer making modest clothes.

These are fish in a bowl. The bubble says "she thinks she just an angel of a fish"
This is someone with a fortune teller.
She liked to use my watercolor pencils to add color to her artwork.
This one was my favorite. Her robot is hitting on the dippin dots vending machine and getting turned down flat!